Ryan Sims, ‘Black and Blue’ Music Video [Exclusive Premiere]

Singer-songwriter Ryan Sims is premiering his new music video for his song "Black and Blue" exclusively with The Boot. Readers can press play above to watch.

An upbeat song with a light-but-steady beat, "Black and Blue" has a melody that masks its downtrodden lyrics. In the song, Sims sings of a relationship that "left me black and blue."

"These scars are the chapters of the foolish things I've done / In my time, I've collected quite a few," goes the chorus of "Black and Blue." "And these bruises are just faded memories that I don't want ..."

The "Black and Blue" video finds Sims wandering through the mountains with his acoustic guitar, performing the song. He's also in the area to collect a few final mementos of a past love.

"Black and Blue" appears on Sims' My Side of the Story EP, released in November. Sims wrote or co-wrote all of the project's seven tracks, which discuss the ups and downs of his personal life: an ex's affair, the end of a long-term relationship, time spent in rehab.

“This EP shows a vulnerable side to me I’ve never really exposed before,” Sims says. “Every one of these songs is true. Every story they tell actually happened. I even questioned whether I should record some of them because they were so personal. But I did it because ultimately it’s not me but it’s the music that’s important."

A native of Cave Creek, Ariz., who grew up first in Indiana with two siblings and a single mother, Sims says he "began to feel the strong urge to make music" when he was just three years old. When his mom remarried when Sims was 10, his stepfather introduced Sims to the guitar.

“I can still remember listening to and understanding music even as a really small child. I understood chord changes and melody at some deep intuitive level," Sims says. "I never dreamed about being a policeman or a fireman or anything other than a musician.”

Sims played local gigs throughout high school and performed in his school's musical, and continued to pursue music after graduation. In 2011, he competed on The X Factor -- an experience he says "was less about music than about learning the ways of the world,” but one that "did teach me how to calm myself and perform my best under pressure."